Clairemont Raises GPA For Athletics

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Students are often hard working on sports fields but put less effort in classrooms, and with a new policy, Clairemont will be changing the GPA requirement for athletics to a 3.0 starting on April 1, 2018.

The district will sign off this new rule immediately. It will apply to all high schools in the San Diego County says Superintendent Faye Kinnett.

Many students say the minimum GPA is too low. Senior Jay Walker said, “I honestly think that the district is moving towards the right direction by raising our school GPA for athletics eligibility. This new rule can be a great opportunity for us the athletes to show we can get even better grades!”

This year 92 percent of the student-athletes reached the 2.0 GPA requirement to play Fall and Winter sports. Only 6 percent of the 3,000 high school athletes in San Diego failed to meet the eligibility requirement says the San Diego Unified School District.

There are students and staff who think this is a great idea but some do not agree. Junior Harry Chestt said, “I don’t think this is fair because not all students have the same learning abilities. If some of us have difficulties just getting to the 2.0 GPA requirement, then it will be a lot harder to get a 3.0 GPA. Plus if we don’t reach the 3.0 then we will not be eligible to play the sports we love, and we’ll be under a lot of pressure.”

Teachers also have different ways they see this situation, just like some agree some disagree. “It is unacceptable to see students at a young age to be stressing about activities such as sports instead of dedicating their time to their grades. Other kids are aware and will use this as motivation to making sure they have that 2.0 if they want to participate in athletics,” said Principal Ollie Tabooger.

Many teachers agreed and collaborated with this change by giving opinions. It is a team effort between coaches and teachers to get those students back on track says Clairemont Athletic Director Pepe Roni. Superintendent Fay Kinnett said, “I think our responsibility as educators is to prepare our students for after high school and I think we’re doing that when we set the bar higher academically. This is good because this way we are expecting more of our student-athletes which can be a great life lesson for them in the future.”

Approximately 15 percent of students in the nation have GPA below 2.0. Many academic interventions and tutoring classes have been put in place to support those who struggle academically to help them regain athletics eligibility.

Tutoring classes will be provided for students in the library on a daily basis from 2:30 p.m to 3:30 p.m. There will be teachers of every academy to give students the extra time needed to regain their athletic eligibility.

Superintendent Faye Kinnett gave some great suggestions. “Even though I think it’s a great idea to set the bar higher for students, the GPA requirement should be carefully processed before being raised. We do not want borderline students to feel discouraged from participating,” he said.

Many teachers believe the district should consider expanding this requirement to all activities, not just sports. “I believe we need to be consistent in what our expectations are for our students participating in school activities. But classwork always comes first!” said Vice Principals Foul Ed Yu and Itsso April Furst.